Pro-Slots Group Is Sailing On

The St. Croix folks who have promoted gambling in the District have moved. And they're taking their slots campaign with them.

Yes, Shawn Scott , Rob Newell and the rest of the gang from Bridge Capital LLC, the cash cow behind the 2004 drive to legalize gambling in the nation's capital, have decamped halfway around the world to the Northern Mariana Islands, where the company is eligible for a bevy of economic development tax breaks.

"We are very excited about coming to Saipan and launching our Asian financial business from here," Scott told island officials in December, according to Marianas Variety Online.

Not long after Bridge Capital put down roots there, Scott's partner, John K. Baldwin, formed GG Acquisitions II and purchased a greyhound track on the nearby island of Guam, according to the Pacific Daily News. Now the company is paying $5 for every signature collected in support of a referendum to legalize slot machines at the track, the Daily News reports.

Gambling opponents are challenging the campaign, which has until Monday to obtain signatures from 4,959 registered Guam voters, the number needed to win a spot on the November ballot.

Meanwhile, a revived slots campaign here in the District seems to be lagging since slots supporters acknowledged last month that they did not have enough signatures to qualify for this year's ballot. DCWatch director Dorothy Brizill reports that petition circulators from out of town appear to have vanished. But Scott and the boys have until December to finish the job for the next citywide election, scheduled for 2008.

This One's for the Girls

Sandy Allen wants to be the Betty Friedan of the D.C. Council.

The former Ward 8 council member, anticipating the departure of several key female legislators following the Sept. 12 Democratic primary, is mulling a run for an at-large seat in November's general election as the "feminist" alternative to David A. Catania (I-At Large) and Phil Mendelson (D-At Large).

"There will be no women," said Allen, who was defeated by Marion Barry in 2004.

Correction: It's possible there will be no black women on the council come 2007. Chairman Linda W. Cropp and Kathy Patterson (D-Ward 3) are giving up their seats to run for higher office, and Sharon Ambrose (D-Ward 6) is retiring. But Carol Schwartz (R-At Large) will keep the council's feminine mystique alive.

Allen said she's thinking she might run as an independent. That means she would go head to head against Catania, her "best friend," as she put it, and one of her closest allies on the council. (In the general election, voters have the opportunity to select two at-large candidates.)

Catania had no comment on his pal's potential challenge.